Diving to the bottom

Rocks covered with patches of brilliant orange, green and yellow. Fish swim like silver leaves in the sunrays, piercing the water before they disappear in the dark beyond. A red starfish lies among lilac sponges and a yellow scorpion fish peers out of a crag in the rocks.

There are so many dazzling sights down here on the seabed around Malta, Gozo and Comino. But I am afraid of diving so I am enjoying these sights in the comfort of my armchair and the warmth of my sitting room as I turn over page after page of the Diving Guide for the Maltese Islands published nine years ago by Miller Distributors Ltd.

According to a report compiled by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), in March 2005 there are up to seven million people who take diving holidays around the world. A million of these live in Europe. Two years ago, 54,000 tourists came to dive in our seas. Over 80 per cent of them came between April and September; 40 per cent stayed in self-catering accommodation, 35 per cent in four-star hotels and 22 per cent in three-star hotels. They usually spend more than the average tourist. In 2004 the diving segment generated Lm27.5 million in revenue.

From discussions with the diving industry the MTA knows that there are areas which require urgent action if this industry is to have a future. The local diving centres have told MTA, year after year, that it should market local diving overseas and should participate more in diving fairs, shows and seminars and advertise in diving magazines and brochures. The diving centres complain that their demands have fallen on deaf ears. They are too small to make their presence felt in the fierce global competition they face from many rival diving destinations.

The diving centres are very worried about their future as their business continues to fall while their running costs continue to rise. Before, they used to have at least a good 10 weeks of high season, now those are down to six. So far this year business is 50 per cent down on 2005! The ripple effect is felt in hotels, self-catering apartments, bars and restaurants. As their revenues fall, the diving centres cannot reinvest to renew their equipment and facilities. They do not have the necessary funds to market themselves effectively.

They feel that MTA and Government are letting them down completely. They feel ignored and neglected. There is no strategic plan for the diving sector, no forward planning, no commitment to renew this sector and make it viable. While we lag behind, Egypt, Greece, Croatia and Cyprus, not to mention attractive destinations in other regions, are improving their product to make it more competitive.

Apart having to contend with aggressive external competitors, local diving centres say that they have to compete unfairly with local illegal operators who are allowed to harm the industry. Illegal diving centres operate with impunity and if they are ever brought to court the fine they are made to pay is so low that they can afford to go on operating outside the law. The authorities, instead of helping law-abiding dive centres, persecute them through the VAT Department and Tax Compliance Unit.

The authorities are not addressing the main concerns of the local diving industry. The dive sites around Malta and Gozo still do not have official designation. A plan was drawn up to improve the Cirkewwa site. Only a fifth of the work was carried out and in the last nine months no work has been done on the site. Sites in Gozo and Comino are still waiting to be improved. Government is also refusing to ban spear fishing in the immediate diving areas. Nothing is being done to plan future sites and make the local product richer and more diverse.

Ignored and neglected

The diving centres were told that there was a short-term marketing plan for 2005 but MTA never informed them what came out of it. All they know is that no co-ordination took place between MTA and the private sector to market our islands overseas. Earlier this month the diving centres were consulted by MTA to give their ideas for the MTA Strategic Plan being drawn up for 2006-2008. They require a segment strategic action plan to revive this industry.

Since MTA's so-called 'restructuring' the diving centres feel more at a loss. Their segment is led from an office based in London and they have been put in a committee where their concerns are diluted, as the other sports sectors sitting on the same committee are mainly interested in securing contributions from MTA funds.

This industry's future is doomed if MTA continues to market diving in the Maltese Islands in a poor, haphazard manner. Law enforcement structures need to be strengthened and the necessary changes to laws carried out to make enforcement effective and quick. The dive centres rightly demand that the local industry needs to be seen within a global scenario and ensure its competitiveness by taking the necessary steps to improve the local product and help it compete by proper regulations and tax structure.

The Labour Party believes that the local diving industry is an important element of our tourism product but we need to take care of it. A Labour government would draw up a strategic action plan together with the centres and take the necessary steps to implement it urgently. The necessary works to improve site accessibility and identify new sites and scuttle new wrecks will be carried out. There will be a tax review to lower the burden of taxation on the sector. The diving centres would be marketed aggressively overseas. Laws and regulations will be changed in line with trends in the rival destinations. We must not allow this industry dive to the bottom.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com